Shattered

Chapter 17 Kristin

"If my past is any sign of your future  you should be warned before I let you inside." John Mayer

Kristin sat on the fancy white linen couch in the living room, only half listening to her punishment. Caroline Whitfield's arms were in the air listing off all of Kristin's offenses. Kristin rolled her eyes for added drama infuriating her mother even further. The list of offenses was long: beating up her older sister, sneaking out of the house while being grounded, and releasing a humiliating video of Bradley over mass text. Kristin was doomed to be grounded until the next century.

"I don't think I should be held accountable for that video since technically it didn't come from my phone, nor do I remember sending it out. I mean, you're accusing me of something I'm not even sure I did."

Curtis' brows furrowed while Caroline started yelling again, this time about bullying and making family members feel safe in their own home. Kristin slouched into the couch cushion. It was impossible to feel remorseful or sorry for something she had no recollection of doing.

"Do you understand?"

"What?" Kristin looked up.

"Do you understand that you can't bully your sister?"

"Yes," she rolled her eyes.

"Say it like you mean it," instructed Curtis.

"I...will...not...bully...my...sister," mocked Kristin.

Caroline's jaw dropped. "Do it," she challenged Curtis.

"Are you sure?" he asked his wife with concern in his eyes.

"Do what?" questioned Kristin with sudden concern.

Caroline folded her arms across her chest. "We're enrolling you in boarding school."

Kristin's blood began boiling. They had threatened to send her there once before. But, she never took the threat seriously. She jumped to her feet and started pacing around the living room. "YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!"

Curtis was now on his feet. "Kristin, you need to calm down, now."

"Calm down?" she spat. "YOU'RE SENDING ME TO A BOARDING SCHOOL AND YOU WANT ME TO BE CALM?"

"This behavior is exactly what we've been talking about," Caroline's eyes welled with tears.

"OH, SAVE IT MOM!"

"I can't have my daughters living under the same roof," cried Caroline. "You don't grasp the magnitude of the situation! We were sitting in this very room three days ago having the same conversation about the way you treat your sister!"

"IT'S ALL ABOUT BRADLEY ALL THE F-ING TIME!" Caroline held her face in her hands while she cried. Curtis was next to his wife trying to comfort her. "She's just like so perfect and everyone just loves her the best. She's smarter and prettier and has better hair and skin and Cassie doesn't leave her side and Sean adores her! I'm like invisible in my own house! And, you both just buy into it! Every single day! What about me? What about soccer? You can't just take me away from my team! I made the varsity team freshman year!"

"You bully Bradley!" accused Caroline.

"I DO NOT! Maybe I'm just trying to crawl out from underneath her!"

"Why do you need to do that?" Curtis asked.

"BECAUSE I'M INSANELY JEALOUS OF HER!" The words shot out of her mouth unfiltered. She gasped at her own omission, the shock on her parents' faces matching her own. "I...mean..."

"Oh, Kristin," sighed Caroline. "She's your sister. You don't have anything to be jealous of."

Kristin sneered. Jealousy, it was unfathomable. Bradley wasn't popular, she was an amoeba in teenage society. Sure, she was kind of pretty, but she had only one good friend. And, Emma was a liar. They were both ugly trolls missing out on the best years of their lives because they didn't fit in, anywhere. And, yet, for some reason, Phil Catalano chose Bradley, defended Bradley. Mark Harber was in love with Bradley. Love. It was impossible to believe. Brody Britton was fighting with Kristin every chance he got, because he was always defending Bradley. And, Tommy Sampson had been at the hospital, only he wasn't there for Kristin, he was there for Bradley.

"Bradley should go!"

"Where?" Curtis asked.

"Boarding school," suggested Kristin. Caroline's lips quivered and Kristin sensed her mother was about to have another come apart. "Just listen to me for a second. I mean, think about it...it would give me time to feel like I belonged in this family. If Bradley wasn't living here, Sean might want to spend time with me and I could be more of an older sister to him, instead of just...and...maybe I'd spend more time with you guys, as a family, instead of always trying to get out of here." She paused. It was working, it had to. "I mean, if you think about it, we could repair our family. And, she'd just be leaving a year early, I mean next year she'll go off to college. And, it's not like she'll be far. We'll see her all the time. Like probably every weekend. It's just that during the week, she wouldn't be here. And, she's always locked in her room anyway, especially during the school year, so it wouldn't feel that different. So, I'm just asking you to consider it. For our family."